Dance with the devil in the pale Midnight
by Enagage-Picard
Summary: Dante starts to recieve missions from a strange character calling himself Midnight,he tells Dante to stick to a set of commandments always or he forfeits the reward. Eventually Dante's life begins falling apart as he is told an earth-shattering prophecy.
1. Chapter 1: Jackpot

**Jackpot…**

His boots creaked as he walked up the dark, derelict, stairway and it didn't help that he ran one handgun along the wall making a scratching noise that was sure give away his position, this mission was important, without it he certainly wouldn't be eating tonight. A bang, he stopped and peered down the hallway he was approaching, a door had opened and a small stout man was now making his way towards the stairs at an easy pace. Without thinking for a second the man on the stairs holstered his handgun and leapt over the barrier clutching onto the marble nearest the floor of the hallway entrance, his red coat whipping quickly behind him like a flame. The stout man had now made his way to the window at the top of the staircase and he looked out upon the grounds of the mansion, next he began to inspect the wall leading up the stairs that now had a deep scratch along it's surface, as he lifted his hands to check the depth he felt a hand cover his mouth and muffle his, "What the hell!?", he barely heard his fingers break before a voice perched not 3cm from his ear softly said, "Where's the Reaper?….oh and I'm going to uncover your mouth now, scream and I'll blow your brains out….. kay thanks" and with that he uncovered the man's mouth, "He's in the room right at the end of the hall on the right, he's having a conference with some guy. Hey man I'm not involved here just…", His neck made a crack so gentle you could have sworn it was someone cracking their knuckles, his body slumped to the ground and the man in the red coat turned on his heel and proceeded down the hall.

This was it, the last door on the right just like the stout man had said, the man in the red coat smirked a smirk only he could understand as he began thinking about the possibilities inside. He lifted his foot to waist level and shoved it towards the doors hinges with a deadly force, it busted open and fell to the ground in the room accompanied by a man in a red coat stepping through the arch way. The room was bigger than he had imagined, and had less guards which was reassuring, all together there were 6 people in the room , 3 guards sitting at chairs by the wall facing the door, a tall thin figure with a gas mask, his accompanying guard and the man with the red coat. The man with the gas mask was in a conversation via video link with a man wearing a business suit on screen. They all stopped as the man in the red coat entered the room, after spotting the man in the gas mask he said with a sigh of relief, "Reaper about damn time!" the man in the gas mask shifted his gaze from the video link to reply to the man in the red coat, "Ah the assassin, you're late…..kill him", the guards heeded the order and opened fire, the man in the red coat took several bullets to the chest before he fell backwards like stone slab being gently pushed over, however just before hitting the floor he reached out a hand behind him and flipped himself backwards so he was facing the gunmen in an inverted position, he drew his gun and fired 2 bullets, 3 bodies fell 2 collapsing because of their now shattered shins and one from fear. The man in the red coat was on his feet in no time and dashing towards the 3 men, he gripped the handle of his sword tightly and thrust it forward with an immense force, the tip of the blade had barely touched the middle guard before he was sent hurtling through the wall and out onto the lawn of the mansion. Before the others could react the man in the read coat lifted his sword to head level, crouched and swung it 360 degrees, decapitating the other 2 men. By now the video link had been ended and the reapers bodyguard began to fire at the man in the red coat, his attempt failed however as the man had now slid across the floor on his knees and fired one bullet from a white handgun engraved "Ivory", this bullet headed straight towards the bodyguard even splitting through one of his own bullets before burying itself between his eyes. The man in the red coat slowly stood up, his white hair was stained red and his face was draped in shadow, as he turned round he felt a sharp blow to the back of his neck and he fell to the ground, before he lost conciousness he heard the reaper congradulate him on getting so far and telling him to enjoy his death before disappearing in a puff of wispy dark green smoke.

When the man woke up from his concussion and stood up he took in his situation, the reaper had disappeared and as a present he had set the mansion on fire. "Crap!" exclaimed the man in the red coat, "this is gonna ruin my boots! Ya stupid hydrogen breathing bastard! Oh and the whole disappear in smoke thing, biggest cliché EVER!!" the man let out a sigh as he realised the blaze would engulf him if he didn't work fast, he ran out into the hallway to look for an escape route and spotted the window at the top of the staircase ,"Bingo!" he said to himself , "nah that doesn't work, keep thinking Dante!". The smile faded from his face as out of each door in the hall burst a pillar of flames, Dante thought to himself that there was no way he would get across in one piece without a shield. He looked into the room he had just left and spotted the reapers bodyguard lying motionless on the floor " Aces!…wait no! that's even worse than "bingo", god I need a good catchphrase" he said to himself , Dante walked over to him and hoisted him upon his shoulder and walked back out into the hallway. He prepared himself before making the charge down the hall through the raging inferno with the bodyguard covering his body from the flames. As he was nearing the end a thought suddenly occurred how would he break through the protective metal cage on the other side, he had now passed the hallway of fire and disgarded the now charred corpse of the reapers bodyguard over the stairs, he felt at his back for an answer and found the black counterpart to Ivory waiting to greet him, he lifted both Ebony and Ivory from their holsters, putting them stacked on each other and turned to the side he aimed at the cage. "Wait! I've got it!" Dante said to himself as he jumped feet first into the window finally finishing his personal hunt for a catchphrase he exclaimed, "Jackpot!". He burst through the window and landed on the lawn, the mansion exploded behind him sending a wave of glass and heat towards him, he stood up and turned to face it, his long red coat stained with blood and singed by fire still billowed behind him.


	2. Chapter 2: The Devil in Disguise

**Author Note**

Hi guys, I forgot to add something from me in the last chapter so I might as well do it now.

This story is AU so nothing you know about the back story is a cert, I've got some great plans for it and I hope you'll enjoy them so if you like the story please tell a friend who might also like it. Last thing don't mean to sound beggarish but please review with any criticisms or whatever and I'd be glad to get back to you and address them, thanks.

P.S. Thanks to my friend Niall who apart from being a great writer (check out his stories they're awesome, his name is 'darkangelguard77') has been really supportive to me about this story, so thanks to him.

* * *

His heart was beating like a drum, what he was seeing was godlike to him, perfection in a word. Dante's feet were perched at a precarious angle on the table and the chair he was sitting on was leaning back on the wall, his gloves were sitting on the table beside an olden times phone and a picture of a beautiful blond woman. There were 3 knocks on the door and a man in an impeccable suit entered, Dante was obviously shocked as he dropped the smut magazine he had been looking at and he let his chair fall back so all 4 legs were on the ground and he was now sitting slumped forward with his elbows on the table. The man in the suit approached the table and asked Dante his name,

"Name's Vergil" lied Dante "Owner of Yamato Corp, you may have heard of it, it's sort of a multi-billion dollar company".

"He knew you would say that" the man said as he placed a sealed letter down on the table in front of Dante, "Please read it Mr. Dante"

Dante sat shocked and looked down at the letter to find something that peaked his interest the words 'Dante: Son of Sparda' were written in cursive red ink. When Dante eventually looked up he found that the man in the suit had left, apparently extremely silently. He picked up the letter and turned it over, there was a wax seal of a gargoyles head holding the envelope closed, Dante picked up the letter-opener on the table, it was shaped like a sword as it had a traditional hilt however the blade itself looked like an enlarged scimitar capable of cutting through any type of matter. It wasn't long before the envelope was torn open and the letter inside was held up to the light so Dante could read it, it read:

Dear Dante,

You will not know who I am but I know you, I have done for many years. The reason I write to you is to offer you a chance to do what you are best at, taking jobs nobody else will. This job consists of you hunting down and assassinating an individual named 'The Reaper', I will not inform you of his appearance as I know that once you see him you will know but I will give you his whereabouts, there is an old abandoned mansion outside of town it stands between 2 graveyards, I think you will know the place as in one of those graveyards resides your mother, tell me Dante do you visit her often? I believe you do as I see the real Dante there when you visit, not the showoff playboy you try to pretend you are but the emotionally crippled young man who longs for one last embrace from his dead mother.

Another thing I must add to this mission is my special requirement, just my way of making the mission more enjoyable for you, for this instance it is that you may not open a door by using your hands, if you do not fulfill this requirement you forfeit payment for the entire job. The payment for completing this mission how I ask is 200,000 dollars.

Yours truly,

Midnight

The letter caused Dante to sit back for a moment contemplating that someone may have been watching him all those nights when he went to visit his mothers grave, he grimaced at the thought that someone other than his brother witnessed the 'true' him before pushing back the chair and standing up, he walked over to the coat hanger and lifted a long red trench coat off of it, after putting it on he returned to the table and put on his gloves, he lifted the picture of the blond woman and stared at it for a moment before returning it to the table. Dante turned towards the door and headed out, a single tear fell from his face as he opened the door and stepped out into the alleyway.

* * *

Jonathan stepped outside the club for a few minutes to catch his breath, the place was filled with the smell of smoke and spilled alcohol due to the clientele waiting within, as he was about to close the door Jonathan saw a man in a red coat come walking up the alley.

"What's the matter Jonathan?" Dante said cheerfully

"I hate this place" Jonathan replied glumly

"Well look on the Brightside" Dante gestured to the inside of the strip club "after this mission I'll finally be able to buy it off ya"

After a small chuckle from Jonathan, Dante stepped through the door. The club was a poorly lit, bad smelling house of debauchery, exactly dantes taste, he made his way passed the doorman and raised an index finger to the bartender and pointed towards the table nearest the private rooms, many patrons of the club greeted him as he made his way to the table and sat down. It wasn't long before the bartender arrived with his drink and placed it on the table.

The bartender straightened up and asked Dante, "Toughest whiskey we got, neat too, how can you drink this stuff?"

"Guess I'm just tougher than the whiskey, eh Frank?" Dante replied cockily

Frank left the table with a smirk and almost bumped into woman heading for the same table, she was obviously a dancer at the club as she was wearing a tight black corset with knee high black boots, as she approached the table a smile spread across dantes face.

"Well hello there" he asked her self-assuredly "what might your name be?"

"Lust" she replied unenthusiastically

"Well that's perfect!" Dante replied audaciously "'cause Envy was a little bit of a cold fish last night"

* * *

The limousine pulled up at the shady bar and the driver's door opened, he walked all the way to the back of the car and opened the door for his employer, a man in a long blue overcoat with spiked white hair stepped out, he had a long sword sheathed and fastened to his waist.

"Shall I accompany you Mr. Vergil" the driver asked obediently

"That won't be necessary Richard, I just have a short visit to make" Vergil replied, he spoke very precisely and had a quality in his voice of someone beyond his years.

Vergil walked slowly over to the door of the club, the sign above it read 'The 7 Deadly Sins' and had a silhouette of a woman swinging round a pole. The place was crowded but Vergil could still spot the person he was looking for, a man with white hair in a red coat drinking whiskey and getting a lap-dance from a woman wearing black, Vergil strode over to the table.

"Dante" Vergil said disapprovingly

Dante turned his gaze from the woman to meet Vergil's and said "Bro, right on time I'll get lust to see to you in a minute, once I'm done"

Vergil dismissed the offer and said "No thanks, if I wanted a disease I would have asked one of the addicts outside for a hit" the dancers head turned to face him with her mouth wide open in shock "no offence" he added.

"Well what are you here for then?" Dante asked confused

"It's about 'Devil May Cry', listen Dante I've been paying the rent on that place for almost 3 years now and you've gotten next to no jobs, and whenever you do get jobs they pay what maybe $100?" Vergil stated passionately "it's just a waste of money that I'm paying ridiculous money to keep that place open and it isn't returning any profit at all! Why don't you accept my offer to work at Yamato Corp, you'll be in a high position and you can earn plenty of…"

Dante cut him off with "Read this, I think you'll find it enlightening" he dropped the letter from Midnight on Vergil's lap, which Vergil picked up and read immediately.

"That's ridiculous! That's more than Yamato Corp makes in a month!" exclaimed Vergil

"I guess it'll cover the rent then?" Dante replied with a laugh "I've gotta go anyway, gonna head into town and hit the nearest pizza place"

As Dante got up he handed a $50 dollar note to Lust and said "Vergil's next, give him a happy ending would ya" he gave Vergil a cocky smile and a wink as he left.

"You never change do you?" sighed Vergil as he put his head in his hands

Dante walked back through the crowd and headed for the door, he saw a blond woman talking to the bartender "Nice" he said under his breath "gotta remember to ask Frank for her name next time" as he laughed at his new plan Dante barely noticed the man he had bumped into.

"Sorry dude, didn't see ya" Dante said apologetically before noticing the mans appearance, he was wearing a black trench coat with a hat covering his face, he raised his head and looked at Dante without saying a word then walked on, he was wearing a gas mask, Dante shrugged his shoulders and walked out.

"I need a ride" Dante said as he left the club "better 'borrow one" he added with a smirk.

As he looked around the car park Dante's eyes fell on 4 vehicles in total, 2 burned out bangers sitting side by side with their windows smashed no doubt by joy riders, next was a limousine in pristine condition with a tall suited man with dark skin standing outside it with his arms folded this was clearly Vergil's mode of transportation.

"Heh, not my style" Dante laughed.

The last vehicle in the car park was a beautiful black motorcycle, it was clearly taken care of well as it looked like it had just been washed and polished.

"Golden!" Dante said excitedly before saying it "damn it that sucks too, when am I gonna get a good catchphrase? Ah never mind I suppose this will just have to do" he said grinning like a fox and hopped on to the bike; he kicked the stand and turned on the ignition.

"Aw yeah just like I thought" he said whilst revving the bike "first pizza then the mission, this is gonna be easy"

Author Note

Well that was it, I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to writing the next chapter, thanks for reading and please review, thanks.


	3. Chapter 3: Heart of Darkness

Authors note

Hi guys, back with chapter 3 hope you like it. One thing I should have mentioned for the last chapter was that it took place the day before chapter 1 but I'm not gonna treat you like idiots you already knew that right? Ok so as before please review and I hope you enjoy it, thanks.

* * *

Vergil walked towards the door of Devil May Cry thinking of how to balance the finances of two departments in Yamato Corp without having to let anyone go, so lost in his thoughts he almost tripped on the welcome mat in front of the door. He knocked 3 times on the door and waited for a reply. It didn't come.

"Dante" he said in his whispery voice, "it's me, let me in"

He stood for a few moments before deciding to enter anyway. The place looked as if it had been trashed by a group of 15 year olds, there were pizza boxes scattered throughout the shop and empty bottles of tomato juice lying on top of the table, any ordinary person would have immediately come to the conclusion that there had been a party and that the place had been filled with people the night before but Vergil knew his brother and this was an average Thursday for him. Vergil approached the table at the back of the room and inspected its surface, beside an ashtray filled with nutshells and smut magazines there lay an empty envelope addressed to 'Dante: Son of Sparda'. The most important thing to Vergil however was the picture of a blond woman sitting at the edge; he lifted it and gazed thoughtfully into the woman's eyes before hearing a noise outside.

Someone was approaching the shop and cursing, when they reached the door they began to bang on it irritably. Vergil immediately gripped the hilt of the sword at his side ready for the worst, the banging stopped and Vergil gripped the sword tighter. He murmured a short sentence to himself before tearing the katana out of its sheath with tremendous force before placing it neatly back in it within a second, a blade of air followed the sword and headed towards the door cutting it in two. Vergil loosened his grip on the sword as he realised what the threat was, Dante stood holding a set of keys up to the light searching for the correct one not even noticing the door he had been trying to open had just been flung down the alley he had just walked.

Dante stood bemused and looked down at Vergil before noticing the missing door, he looked behind him and spotted it lying in many small pieces. He spun around to face Vergil and said

"Good thing you're paying for that"

* * *

"So then I got back on the bike and headed here" Dante explained.

Vergil sighed, "So this Reaper character, he was the target?"

"Yeah…" Dante replied dejectedly

"Hmmmm, how he did know you were coming then?"

"'Cause that bastard Midnight set me up that's why!!"

"Ok, Ok calm down, do you know if he will contact you again?"

"He better, cause when he does" Dante lifted Ebony from his coat and pointed towards a picture of a devil on the wall, "Bang".

Dante got up and walked towards the back of the room, Vergil remained seated as Dante picked up the phone and pressed 2 buttons, he was connected almost immediately and a person on the other end picked up. Vergil couldn't hear the other person but knew who they were by Dante's side of the conversation.

"Hey Jeff, do me a favour would ya and send me over 2 of the regulars and 2 bottles of tomato juice"

There was a pause before the person replied to Dante.

"Yeah that's everything, oh wait hold on a second" He covered the receiver and spoke to Vergil.

"Hey Vergil, you want anything from Enzos?"

Vergil slowly pulled his gaze from the floor to meet Dante's.

"Do they have any red wine?" he said in an ashen voice

Dante looked sternly at him before uncovering the receiver.

"Yeah just the pizzas and tomato juice Jeff thanks"

Vergil rolled his eyes and stood up as Dante hung up the phone and took off his bloodstained coat.

"You know anywhere I can get this mended?"

Vergil approached the door and turned to face Dante.

"I have to go, if you hear anything about Midnight contact me, in the meantime I can have someone look into him"

Vergil turned to open the door and step out before Dante spoke up.

"What about my coat?"

"I'll send Sarah around in the morning"

"She the red head?"

Vergil turned to face him, giving him a warning look.

"Yes Dante she's the red head, now I really have to go"

Dante stood with an eager smile painted on his face before striding across to the jukebox and hitting play; since no music played he concluded with a disappointed smile that it was broken. Dante sighed as he sat down at his chair and picked up a smut magazine from the floor.

"Business as usual then?" he smirked.

* * *

Dante slowly regained consciousness as the heat of the sun outside peeked through the gaping hole in his doorway and warmed the top of his head. He was slumped over the desk with his head resting on Ivory and drool running down the side of his mouth. He straightened up and lay back into his chair.

"Must be morning" he thought, " boy I must have slept a good 10 hours, that's good for me heh heh"

Footsteps approached from the alley opposite his shop, Dante straightened up in his chair and waited for the knock on the half of the door that was left.

"Umm excuse me, Mr. Dante?" A woman's voice called out.

"In here"

The woman nudged the door aside and stepped into Dante's office, he was sitting in his chair with his arms folded and a brazen grin across his face. She took a moment to take in his appearance; he was wearing a red waistcoat fastened with belts and a black shirt underneath with the sleeves rolled up.

"Something wrong?" Dante asked with a puzzled look on his face

The woman had only now just realised that she had been staring at him for the better part of 5 minutes, "Sorry, sorry I was just noticing…ummmm your gun, it's very nice" she said flustered.

A smirk spread across Dante's face as he stood up and made his way towards her, the woman was to busy quietly cursing herself for looking like such an idiot she didn't realise Dante had moved until she felt his cold breath on her neck.

"So you're Sarah huh?"

"Umm yes, Mr. Vergil sent me, I'm his PA, he said you had trouble with your coat"

"Yeah that's right, it's over there," He said softly with his head resting on her shoulder.

"OK then, I suppose I'll just take it back to my office then" she said nervously before delicately stepping towards the singed, bloodstained coat hanging on the wall.

Dante raked his brain for a way to get her to stay a little longer; he poked his head out the door and saw his order from Enzos sitting on the step.

"Jackpot! Good ol' Enzo! He must have seen I was asleep and left it here" Dante thought.

He picked up one of the bottles of tomato juice and turned to face Sarah who was measuring the coat for repairs.

"You like tomato juice Sarah," he said with a devilish grin

Dante made his way skilfully towards the small red headed woman, which only made her, blush further.

* * *

Lightning echoed throughout the halls of the abandoned penitentiary, it was 11:55 and outside was at freezing temperature. In the highest point in the prison 3 men were having a conversation, the first 2 were facing each other, on the left there was a tall man with spiked blond hair wearing an impeccable suit. The person he was talking to was a tall thin man wearing a gas mask, the twos conversation had now evolved into an argument.

"You had no right to do this!" the man in the gas mask hissed

"Who do you think you are talking to? You have been careless reaper, leaving trails for people to find, this will serve as a warning for you!" came the reply from the man in the suit.

"I know we had to test the boy but sending him after me? And only warning me a few minutes before he kicked the door down was a pretty sly move Jacob!"

"You're lucky you even got that video link! You ungrateful outcast!"

Reaper stood back for a moment readying himself for a fight; he hunched over and crossed his arms, as he did this two glorious black wings burst forth from his back sending dark feathers flying throughout the room.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME AN OUTCAST!!" he screamed as he rushed at Jacob.

Jacob lifted his right hand holding his ring and smallest finger down with his thumb, his index and middle finger were pointed straight up. He moved his hand mere centimetres from his face as he began to chant an inaudible spell with his lips moving at an extremely unnatural pace.

**ENOUGH!!**

The voice bellowed from beside the 2 men. The third man who had been watching the proceedings from the shadows had finally spoken up just as the small clock in the corner of the room hit 00:00. The two men immediately stopped fighting and looked on with reverence.

"The time has come" the voice continued "the hour is upon us, deliver these letters at once"

A hand was held out from atop an elevated chair cloaked in shadow, grasped within it was a 2 letters. Jacob nervously reached out towards the hand before he was pulled in with unexpected force.

"Do NOT fail me," the voice whispered

"Of course my lord Midnight" Jacob stuttered

The two men quickly made their way out of the room leaving the shadow cloaked figure alone, the red glow from its eyes watching their every move.

* * *

Authors note

Well that's it folks hope you liked it, please review and check out my other story, "Of Time Compressions And Lionhearts".

Thanks.


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